Break

Anne Harbor

I sat in the moving car with ear phones in my ear and a phone in my hands. I was pretending to be busy so they wouldn't know I was listening. But I heard every word they said.

"Are you sure she should start so soon? I mean we moved here just 2 days ago." My mom complained to Rick who surprisingly wasn't irritated.

"Susan, it's the beginning of the school year, the first day. There will be more new kids. There always is." He replied turning a corner.

"But she's so new. Why not give her a weeks break? You know, investigate the neighborhood.. Make some friends?" She said.

Rick signed and pulled up to Anne Harbor High.

"She'll be fine." He said looking right at my mom. "Isn't that right Estella?"

I looked up to meet my mom and Rick's gaze.

"Sure." I said.

"See?" he said smiling.

My mom gave up and sat back in her seat.

I wouldn't have minded a week off. It's not like I was looking forward to meeting a bunch of strangers.

"Do you have everything?" Rick asked the 30th time today.

"Yes." I replied the 30th time that day.

He grinned at me and said, "Well, um, see ya at home."

And they drove away.

I signed and turned towards the building behind me. This was going to be a long day.

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I made my way past the crowd of teens getting out of buses, cars, and bikes. Why were they staring at me? I didn't know.

After getting lost for about 50 years or 10 minutes human time, I finally came to the schools main office.